Method of and apparatus for gluing barrels



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. H. HOPPER. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GLUING BARRELS. No. 255.861. yPatented Apr. 4,1882.

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(No Mom.) 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

G. H. HOPPER. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GLUING BARRELS.

No. 255,861. Patented Apr, 4,1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. HOPPER, OF UNIONVILLE, onto.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GLUING BARRELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,861, dated April4-, 1882.

Application filed February 10, 1882. (No model} To all whom it mayconcern Be it known that I, GEORGE H. HOPPER, of Unionville, in thecounty of Lake and State of Ohio, have invented a new and ImprovedMethod of and Apparatus for Gluing Barrels; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and complete description thereof. l

The purpose of this invention is to reduce the temperature of barrels toa low degree preparatory to their receiving an interior coating of hotglue, in order to cause the glue to set quickly, so that it may not runand settle at the lower part or the bottom-0f the barrel while the glueis yet warm and the barrel at rest. 1

Ofthe apparatus devised for the aboVespecified purpose, and theoperation of the same, the following is a full and complete description,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which- Fignre 1 represents a side elevation of theapparatus, partially in section. Figs. 2 and 3 are detached views. Fig.4 is a plan view of the. apparatus.

Like letters of reference reTer to like parts in the several views.

In preparing barrels for holding the distillates of petroleum it isnecessary that they be made impervious to the penetrating nature of thefluid. To accomplish this the barrel is treated interiorly with acoating of glue, which is not readily acted upon by the oil. Thiscoating of glue is applied by pouring a given amount of hot glue intothe barrel through the bung-holeand then rolling the barrel, so that thehot liquid glue may swash about therein and cover the inside. Thesurplus glue is allowed to drain off through the bung-hole by rollingthe barrel onto a drain trough, into which the free and yet warm glueflows from the bung-hole, leaving more or less adhering to the inside ofthe barrel. I n the summertime it requires about one-half pound of glueto a barrel, whereas in the cold days of winter one-fourth of a pound isall that is needed. This difference in the amount of glue used in warmand cold weather is owing to the timber of the barrel becoming warm fromthe heat of the atmosphere, so that the hot glue, after being applied tothe inside of the barrel, runs down the inside to the end or side thatmay be down, instead of remaining on the sides and head that may beuppermost, as it would do did the glue cool and set quickly. Hence ofthe half-pound of glue not more than a half of it remains distributedover the interior surface of the barrel, the rest having run down andsettled on the lower side or end, as the position of the barrel may be.In consequence there is a large waste of gluean excess in one. place andnot enough in another. In the winter-season, when the barrels are cold,the hot glue poured therein. and swashed about quickly cools and adheresevenly over the surface of the'barrel, so that instead of using ahalf-pound of glue, as in the summer-season, a quarter of a pound issufficient, making thereby a tighter barreland saving at least" one-halfof the glue, which (such as is used for this purpose) is worth twelvecents per pound, making a saving of fit'ty per cent. in the cost ofgluing the barrels in favor of winter.

In order to avoid this waste of glue is the purpose of this invention,and is effected" by making the condition of the barrels as regardstemperature the same in summer as in winter, by simply chilling them byartificial means before they go to the gluetub for being glued.

To this end is constructed a refrigerating chamber,'A, Figs. 1 and 4..Said chamber may consist of a long narrow shallow structure'- capable ofholding fifty or seventy barrels, y

(moreorless,)and madeofdouble wallsB,filled in with any suitablenon-heat-condncting ma terial, C, Fig. 4. Running lengthwise through thechamber is an inclined track, D, of stiflicient grade to causethebarrels E to roll down by their own gravity. In the drawings one trackonly is shown. Two or more may be used, and of different grades, as maybe desired. 7

At each end of the chamberA is a subchamber, respectively F and G,through which the inclined track 1) passes to the outside of' therefrigeratory chamber A. Said track lies on the threshold of thedoorways opening into the sub-chamber G. The doorway H is closed by adrop-door, I, hinged to the wall of the chamber at a so that'it mayswing openin wardly. The doorway of the innerwall, J, of the sub-chamberis also provided with a door,

K, hinged and opening in the same way as the door I, as seen in thedrawings. The two walls L and M of the sub-chamber F are respectivelyprovided with sliding doors N and 0, opened vertically by the levers I,to which they are connected by rods b, substantially as shown in Fig. 1.The several doorways above alluded to are only large enough to permitthe passage of abarrcl through them. The doors to the sub-chamber may bearranged 'as are other doors, or to operate automatically.

Close to the door H of the chamber is'journaled a shaft, Q, Fig. 4,011which is secured a pair of wheels, It, over which run respectively theelevator chains S T, provided with arms U, on which to place the barrelsV for being carried from a lower floor to the refrigeratingchamber. Saidelevator is operated by a cogwheelfi'V, suitablyconnected with somemotive power.

In the chamber A is a system of serpentine pipes, Y, arranged in ahorizontal position between the barrels and the ceiling of the chamber,as shown in Fig. 4. Said system of pipes extends the entire length andwidth of the chamber. The end A of the pipes is connected by a pipe, 13,to an ammoniacal-gas pump, G, whereas the opposite end, D, of the pipeis connected by a pipe, E, to a receiver, F, containing aqua -ammonia,and in which terminates one end of the coil G of a condenser, H. Saidcondenser is in connection with the pump G by a pipe, H.

The practical operation of the above described apparatus is as follows:The temperature of the chamber A is reduced to a low degree by theexpansion or vaporizing of aquaammonia in the pipes Y, drawn thereinfrom the receiver F by the pump 0, which is or may be like this class ofpumps in ordinary use. Henceadescription thereofis notthought essentialin this place, as the construction thereof forms no part of thisinvention. A circulation of ammoniacal gas is continued through thepipes by the action of the pump, during the operation of which thevaporized liquid ammonia or gas is drawn from the pipes Y through thepipe B into the pump 0, from which it is forcedinto the condenserH,wherein the ammoniacal gas in passing through the pipes G is condensedby the application thereto of cold water inducted into the vesselcontaining the coil by means of the water-pipe N.

pansion of aqua-ammonia, drawing gas therefrom to keep up the continuedexpansion and forcing the gas into the condenser to be reduced again toaqua-ammonia, running into the receiver F in condition for the circuit,as before mentioned, which is continuous.

The barrels to be treated with an interior coating of glue are conductedinto the frigid chamber through the doorway II, Fig. 1, at which theyare delivered from a lower floor by the elevator M, above described. Thebarrel as it leaves the arms of the elevatorimpinges upon the door I,and by its movement down the inclined track 1) opens the door and passesinto the sub-chamber G to the door K, pushing it. open and entering thechamber A, down the inclined track of which it rolls to the door 0,which is opened by the lever P to allow it to enter the sub-chamber F.The door is then closed and the door N opened by the lever P, allowingthe barrel to roll from the sub-chamber to the gluing-tub I, under whichit is conducted, bung-hole upward, to receive the end of the gage-faucet0, through which the hot glue from the tub enters the barrel. The barrelis immediately removed from under the gluetub to give place to anotherfollowing. The

, removed barrel is bunged up and given a thorough whirling and shaking,that the steam from the hot glue therein may test the tightness of thebarrel, which it does by issuing from any imperfections that may be inthe barrel-such as bad joints,worm-holes, &c.--which are immediatelyplugged up by the operator. This whirling and shaking also spreads theglue to all parts of the interior of the barrel. The barrel thus treatedis then placed upon the drain-trough D and left there, bung downward, sothat the free glue, if any, in the barrel may drip or run out and beconducted by the troughs into the drip-tubs J and saved for further use.The barrel in passing through the freezing-chamber A becomes very cold,so that the hot glue remaining upon the inside surface, after havingbeen drained, chills and sets at once upon the interior surface, anddoes not run down the surface and settle at the bottom or end, as itwould do in a warm barrel, causing an excess of glue in one place and aninsutficiency in another. 7 On the contrary, the hot glue chills andadheres at once to the sides and heads of the barrel evenly anduniformly over the entire surface. In view of this quick chilling of theglue in the barrel one-half the quantity of glue only is required forgluing the barrel-that is to say, the same amount, (onefourth of a poundto a barrel,) the amount used in the winter-season when the barrels arecold, instead of one-half a pound required in-the summer-seasonfwhen thebarrels are warm, for the same purpose as above mentioned.

It will be obvious from the above that the condition of the barrel asregards temperature is the same in summer as in winter, which, as

abovesaid, results in a saving of about onehalf in the matter of glue,and at the same time doing the work of gluing as well in the hot days ofsummer as in the cold days of winter.

The purpose of the sub-chambers F and G is to prevent the warm air fromthe outside entering directly into the chamber A when the not directlyopen to the outside air on passing in and out the barrels.

The faucet 0, above alluded to, is gaged to hold about one-half gallonof hot liquid gluean amount sufficient to afford steam to properly testthe barrel, and also a sufficient quantity to be certain of its reachingall parts of the inside surface when the barrel is being shaken by theoperator, after which the surplus liquid is drained ofi".

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In an apparatus for cooling barrels preparatory to their being glued,the arrangement and combination of the frigid chamber A and sub-chambersF and G, with their respective doors and cooling-pipes Y, in combinationwith an ammoniacal-gas pump, condenser, and receiver, with their severalconnecting-pipes, substantially as described, and for the purpose setforth. I

2. Arranged in relation to and in combination with the frigid chamber A,an inclined track, glue-tub, and elevator, operating conjointly in themanner set forth, and for the purpose specified.

3. As a preparatory step in the process of gluing barrels, the coolingof said barrels to a low degree of temperature by passing them through arefrigerating apparatus that the glue, when applied to the interior ofthe barrel, may chill and set quickly, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. HOPPER.

Witnesses:

W. H. BURRIDGE, J. H. B RRIDGE.

